The clear, acrylic chambers may look like newfangled tanning beds or even like something out of a sci-fi movie, but the restorative abilities within have become the gold standard for healing even the most difficult wounds. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO), the newest addition to the comprehensive, multidisciplinary care provided through Overlook Hospital’s Wound Healing Center, is an advanced wound therapy not available at every hospital. Explains Denise Malinowski, RN, CWA, nurse manager of the Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Program, “It increases healing rates and accelerates the healing process. Patients who would ordinarily have a slow road to healing will have that process sped up for them.”

The science behind HBO therapy is sound: Oxygen promotes angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels) and kills bacteria. The center’s two state-of-the-art whole-body chambers, operating since June, increase the dissolved oxygen in the bloodstream to levels 20 times higher than under ordinary conditions (as in a deep-sea scuba dive), thereby enhancing the body’s ability to fight infection and heal a variety of wounds.

HBO is particularly effective in healing certain wounds associated with diabetes (it has been approved by the FDA as the second course of action after 30 days of unsuccessful treatment with more traditional therapies), bone infections, chronic skin ulcers, and crush injuries, and is credited with improving the outcomes of surgical grafts and flaps.

Patients who are referred to the program undergo a thorough review of their medical history, a physical, and an interview to determine whether HBO is an appropriate therapy for them. Each patient usually requires 20 to 40 treatments, says Malinowski, though the exact number and degree of pressure depend on each person’s individual etiology. “We are completely involved with each patient to make sure the treatment plan is maintained,” she says. “We are the patient’s advocate all through the process, moving them through the continuum of care.”

HBO is also the first choice of treatment for late radiation injury: In people who have had cancer and were treated with radiation, their skin often does not have appropriate blood flow—a severe impediment to wound healing. Such was the case for 55-year-old Susan Stock, who was treated for Hodgkin’s disease in 1981. This past summer, in need of surgery to remove an abnormal growth in her mouth, her oral surgeon was concerned that she would have diminished blood flow to her jaw, which would prevent her from healing properly. It was on his suggestion that she pursued HBO in a series of 30 treatments both before and after her surgery. “I did not want to do this,” she admits. “I was scared to death. I expected to feel pressure on my body, but you actually don’t feel any different—you just hear the circulation of the air. And you’re in constant communication with the nurses and technicians during the treatments, so that’s reassuring. They make you feel comfortable and put you at ease.”

To that end, the hyperbaric suite has been designed to create a relaxing, tranquil, and controlled environment, to assist in creating a positive experience for patients. Patients can watch DVDs or cable television during treatments, each of which usually lasts for about two hours. For Stock and her oral surgeon, the weeks of treatment were well worth it. “There is no way of knowing if I would have done so well without it,” she says, “but I healed beautifully. If I had to do it again, I would.”